The precarious linchpins of social order

On Jan. 9, 2011 my first column titled “Bars are Different” appeared in this publication. The topic of my tentative foray into op-ed journalism was the relatively new but very contentious law which prohibited smoking in almost all of Michigan’s workplaces. The debate over the legislation had raged for months and even though it didn’t rise to the level of the local angst caused by fluctuating gasoline prices, it still remained very much the subject of animated and intense discussion.

I have to admit that the preparation for this column is at times challenging and adding to that are the curious minds asking how I choose each week’s topic on which to pontificate. As simple as that question may seem there really isn’t any easy answer. The only guidance I received when undertaking this task back in January 2011 was that I should write about local or state issues. It hasn’t always worked out that way but for the most part I have not found myself coloring outside the lines on too many occasions. This week was like many others where I had selected a theme of brilliance and launched the necessary research. My plan was to present an intriguing epistle explaining a Pentagon strategic plan known as “Conop 8888.” This unclassified document is a detailed manual and operational plan designed to address and combat any potential zombie apocalypse. As enticing as that subject was, I found myself changing direction in mid-stream and the zombie apocalypse took a direct path to the digital trash can.

Once the zombies had staggered into absolute oblivion I came to the realization that they had hijacked my column. It was now time to strategize and come up with some sort of Plan B. I thought back to last December when we all became overly familiar with the meteorological terms “polar vortex” and “bombogenisis.” In a nutshell the polar vortex is extremely cold temperatures driven by arctic winds and bombogenesis describes an extremely strong storm. Anyway, for much of the winter I was forced to sleep on the couch due to recurring sinus infections. When sleep was elusive I found myself listening to the howling wind, creaking roof joists and the incessant sound of the running furnace. Thanks to many sleep-deprived nights I came to realize just how dependent we are on others to maintain our social order. Wind chills were approaching -40 degrees. If I had lost electrical power to my home it wouldn’t be long before I would be forced to vacate the premises. Where exactly would I go? That was a scary thought that left me feeling completely helpless.

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Here are just a few facts to illustrate my point. This week, 1.8 million pounds of ground beef processed in Detroit and shipped to four states were recalled for possible e-coli contamination. Last December somewhere around 600,000 residents of this state lost electrical power for up to a week during one of the coldest periods of the entire winter. During that same month this nation experienced a massive credit card security breach that occurred because we rely on aging cassette tape technology that was developed over 40 years ago. We have sent a good portion of our manufacturing ability out of this country and in exchange we often receive cheap shoddy goods not worthy of the lower price. Even more troubling is that we are now importing much of our food from China which is the same country that has put poison in dog treats, antifreeze in toothpaste, and lead paint on children’s toys. If you want to watch something really upsetting just research China fish farming and I can almost guarantee that you will never let tilapia swim past your lips again. Our transportation system is antiquated and often incapable of supporting the increased amount of vehicular traffic and in my humble opinion we are walking on the thin line between complacency and complete collapse of social order.

I liken our situation to a real-life version of the game known as Jenga. That game is played with 54 wooden blocks that begin stacked in a tightly packed column. The object of the game is to remove blocks from the tower and place them on top of the narrowing and increasingly unstable pile without causing a total collapse. As the game progresses the tower base will become unstable enough for the whole thing to fall into a heap of rubble. The loser is the person causing the collapse.

How long could Mt. Pleasant or any community for that matter remain stable if electrical power were lost for an extended amount of time? What if the water supplies were contaminated or our food delivery system interrupted? It would not be long before the glue holding our society together would begin to dissolve with terrible consequences. Our social order is actually dependent upon an unstable tower barely unable to support all that has been piled upon it.

“Everything that everyone is afraid of has already happened: The fragility of capitalism, which we don’t want to admit; the loss of the empire of the United States; and American exceptionalism. In fact, American exceptionalism is that we are exceptionally backward in about fifteen different categories, from education to infrastructure.” – James Hillman.

Can the zombies be far behind?

Les Rosan is a Morning Sun columnist. His e-mail is LRInvestigations@charter.net